As Human As I Am
by Raberba girl
Summary: Sora has a mission in the depths of his heart.


As Human As I Am  
(rough draft)  
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

_For SorasPrincesss. :)  
Sora/Xion Day, 30 January 2014_

Summary: Sora has a mission in the depths of his heart. Sora/Xion

**A/N: Takes place during a theoretical KH3.**

o.o.o

Sora once again found himself pelting down a stained glass path with a fellow Keyblade wielder at his side, pursued by a swarm of Heartless.

"Almost there," Roxas gasped out, sounding relieved when the door on the platform below came in sight.

"Roxas-" Sora started to say.

"Shut up and run!"

Running like that on a downward slope, they couldn't stop themselves in time, and both of them crashed right into the door. Hissing in pain, Roxas scrambled to regain his footing and faced the approaching horde with a fierce look.

"Roxas," Sora tried again, "I _can't_ leave you to do this! At least Ven had Vanitas with him, but you-"

"GET THROUGH THE DOOR BEFORE I CRACK YOUR HEAD OPEN." Without looking, Roxas thrust his Keyblade toward the door behind him. A laser-thin beam of blue light struck the keyhole, unlocking it.

"But-"

"I'll be _fine_! It's you they're after, they'll leave me alone once you're gone!"

"But how do you _know_ that?!" Sora cried desperately. He could barely see now, the light from the opening door was so bright. "For all I know, Ven and Van got eaten back there! I don't wanna lose you, Roxas!"

Roxas seized a fistful of Sora's shirt and shoved him through the door. "Tell her hi for me."

"Huh?"

The light began to obscure everything on the other side - the stained glass of the pillar and the darkness beyond, Roxas ready to fight, the glowing eyes of the monsters who were nearly upon them... It was exactly like last time, except that the two halves of Ventus had been together, facing the darkness side by side. Roxas was completely alone.

"Roxas!"

The light seemed to consume it all. Sora couldn't see anything anymore. "ROXAS!"

The door latch clicked into place with a final-sounding thunk, and then everything went black.

o.o.o.o.o

When Sora opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a very familiar beach. "This is...Destiny Islands?" He looked around at the vast ocean, the sunny sky, the paopu trees rustling in the wind. "Huh." The previous pillar had been Twilight Town; the one before that, the Land of Departure. It felt nostalgic to be in a place that seemed like home. "At least I'm on my own turf this time." He summoned his Keyblade. "Now, I wonder where-?"

As if on cue, the ground seemed to ripple, and Shadows began to emerge. Sora smiled ruefully, his grip on his weapon tightening. "Well, come on, then."

It was easy at first, whacking away at puny targets that burst into smoke and prizes with only one hit each. However, as Sora had expected, the small fry started giving way to bigger and tougher Heartless. They seemed to generally follow a beach theme, and Sora soon found himself beset on all sides by evil, glowing-eyed octopi, starfish, and seagulls.

"Haaaahhhh!" It wasn't like he'd never done anything like this before. Sora was a decimating whirlwind in battle, destroying Heartless after Heartless after Heartless so quickly that only a fraction of their strikes were able to hit him. Yet there were so _many_ of them, it was only a matter of time, and he eventually felt the relentless exertion starting to take its toll. "Just leave me alone, would you?! Or at least lead me to your boss so I can get this _over_ with!"

An octopus Heartless's tentacle curled around his ankle and yanked. Sora cried out in surprise and pain as he lost his balance and thudded into the sand; then he shrieked and threw an arm protectively over his head as a seagull Heartless swooped in for a vicious jab.

"Fira!" Fire burst from the tip of his Keyblade and struck the retreating Heartless, drawing an outraged squawk from it. Unfortunately, the other Heartless were swarming in now that Sora was on the ground. "Fire! FIRE!"

Most of them were able to weather the rings of flame Sora tried to keep summoning. He cried out again as a heavy blow landed across his back.

"Salvation!" A rush of light swept through the battlefield, prompting shrieks from the Heartless - the ones that survived being evaporated. Sora weakly raised his head and saw a hooded, Keyblade-wielding figure, swathed in one of those black coats, come flying in to his rescue.

"You're a little late, huh?" Sora murmured with a little smile. Groping in his pocket for a Hi-Potion, he gulped it down and then surged to his feet, whipping his Keyblade back into a steady grip and swinging it at the nearest Heartless. "You guys might as well surrender, 'cause I've got backup now!" he proclaimed triumphantly.

Then he yelped as another tentacle seized his ankle again. "Hey-!" Instead of yanking down this time, it jerked up, meaning that Sora's Keyblade swung through empty air; then, before he could even finish processing his failed attack, he was flung. "Aaaaahhhhh...!" He landed with a splash in the ocean, and floundered painfully for a moment before starting to struggle back to shore. "Uh oh." Some of the octopi were sliding into the water in pursuit of him. "Fine! Come get it, then!"

It didn't take long after that. The hooded newcomer was mopping up the last Heartless as Sora slogged back onto the beach. He took a deep breath, leaped into the air, and dealt the finishing blow to the last Heartless just as his ally was starting to swing back. Sora grinned. "Thanks for helping me out."

The hooded figure lowered his Keyblade and nodded.

"So...um, do I know you? Did we meet before and I forgot, or you used to be a part of the Organization, or...?" Sora trailed off uncertainly. His companion remained completely silent. "Um...I'm Sora."

The other Keyblade wielder nodded again, then turned away.

"It's nice to meet you!" Sora called, a little desperately.

When he was ignored again, he shook his head and then looked down at his dripping clothes. "Man, I'm soaked..." He looked back up. "Hey! I'm gonna start a fire in that cave over there, all right? Join me if you want!" Again, there was no acknowledgement. Sora scratched the back of his head and then went into the Secret Place.

The fire cast its warmth over his exposed flesh in front, but the cave's chill still raised gooseflesh on Sora's back, making him shiver. He looked up in surprise and pleasure when the hooded boy ducked into the cave and approached. "Hey!"

The boy crouched down and set a large leaf on the ground next to Sora.

"You brought some food?"

The boy retreated and leaned back against the cave wall, lifting a piece of fruit to his own unseen mouth.

Sora picked up a second piece of fruit from the leaf, smiling at it a little. "Hey...you know the story of the paopu, right?"

The boy paused.

"If two people share one, their..." They looked at each other for a minute. Then Sora shrugged. "Eh, it's probably just an old wives' tale." He bit into the paopu.

The silence stretched out. The boy seemed to be staring at him a lot, though it wasn't easy to tell because of the hood. Sora finally shook his head. "So...do you hate me or something?"

The voice was soft, and sounded almost as startled as Sora felt upon finally hearing it. "What?"

Sora blinked. "I mean - you won't talk to me, you won't even tell me your name..."

His companion was silent and rigid.

"...Well, I guess you don't have to, if it scares you so much."

"I'm Xion."

Sora frowned. "Hey...are you a- a girl?"

The hooded head ducked down.

"I-I mean, hey, that's cool! I don't mind if you're a girl, I-" Sora suddenly looked down at himself, remembering that he was half-naked. His face felt warm as he instinctively drew his arm over his bare chest. "Uh...maybe I should put my shirt back on, I just..."

"It's fine," Xion mumbled.

"Um..." Sora smiled sheepishly and reached to get dressed again, even though his clothes were still damp. "Sorry for...uh...I just kinda assumed you were a guy."

"I don't mind." Her head jerked up. "I mean! I..." She shoved the rest of her paopu into her mouth.

"So...is that why you were wearing your hood? Because you didn't want me to know you're a girl?"

"I...I just..."

"I mean, I know you're a girl now, so you don't have to keep hiding your face, right?"

"We should get going," she said tersely. She got to her feet, Keyblade appearing in her hand again.

"Hey! I mean, we need to find the boss Heartless, but we're not in _that_ much of a hurry, right?"

"There's no point in hanging around here."

"Well...okay, but-" Sora crammed the last of the fruit into his mouth, kicked dirt over the fire, then hurried to catch up with Xion, who had already left the cave and was making her way toward one of the ladders. "Wait up!"

They climbed until they were up by the empty hut, the highest part of the little island. Xion glanced back at him. "Do you have Glide equipped?"

"Huh? Yeah, but... Are we flying somewhere?"

"The boss obviously isn't here. Is there a boat I don't know about?"

"Uh..." Sora squinted down at the empty pier. "Nope. So we're going to the mainland?"

"Unless you've got any better ideas." She leapt off the edge of the wooden walkway.

"Xion!" Sora meant to jump right after her, but paused a moment to admire her steady, graceful flight. She'd obviously done this a lot, maybe even more than he had. "Xion! Wait for me!" He jumped off the walkway and Glided after her.

He was soon able to catch up, and they soared side by side for a little while. Then Sora grinned and angled himself a bit until his fingertips brushed hers.

She jerked back in surprise. The sudden movement affected her balance and she dropped down a few feet.

"Xion!"

"I- What's wrong?!"

"Huh?!"

They stared at each other. "Why did you...run into me?" she finally asked.

"I just- I dunno; I was playing?"

"Playing?"

"Yeah. You know...like tag. Kind of." He felt really stupid now.

"..."

"Never mind." He looked down and smiled again. "Heh, I wonder what it'd be like to cannonball into the water from all the way up here."

"We need to keep going. We're not in Neverland, we'll lose altitude if we don't hurry."

"Yeah, but..." Was she always this serious? "Hey. I bet you don't know what kind of fuel Gummi Ships run on."

"Huh? What are Gummi Ships?"

Sora grinned. "They're made of Gummi Blocks, and they can take you all over the multiverse. I have some of my own, they're fun. Guess their fuel."

"Uh - pixie dust...?"

"SMILES!" Sora immediately put on his hugest and goofiest, and was rewarded when his companion let out an incredulous chuckle and wobbled in the air.

"Your _face_...?!"

"Gummi Ships run on smiles," Sora said in satisfaction. "It's good to hear you laugh, Xion."

"Huh?"

"You just seem so serious..."

"You think this is a party or something?" she said, now sounding sullen. "I lost my best friends. We're all trapped in your heart. If we don't defeat this monster, you're gonna die, and the rest of us will die with you. You'll never see your friends again, and they'll...they'll cry. Is this supposed to be _fun_?"

Now Sora's heart was aching a bit, and he didn't think it was because of his own feelings. "Xion...you've really had it rough, haven't you."

"You don't know anything about me!"

"Maybe I don't know exactly what happened to you and the others, but I...can hear it. In your voice. Sadness and pain, just like when I met Roxas in that nightmare... You guys are depending on me, aren't you."

"Yes. So let's get _going_."

"Yeah, but - can't you let me make you smile on the way?"

She was silent for a long time. Then she drifted closer, this time letting her own fingertips brush his. "Yes."

Sora exhaled in relief.

They soon came to land on the beach of the mainland, and Sora turned to wait for Xion to catch up. She was staring at the breaking waves.

"Xion?"

Slowly, she stooped down to pick something out of the sand and then straightened back up, staring at it.

Sora went over to look, too. "That's a pretty seashell."

"I used to...come here sometimes, to gather shells... At the real islands, I mean. Not this shadow world here in your heart."

"You like seashells?"

"Mm...you can still hear the ocean in them, even when you're far away."

"Does it make you feel homesick?"

"Homesick?"

"Yeah. It's when something reminds you of home. The place you belong."

"But...I never even saw the beach until the first time I had a mission there. It wasn't my home, the...castle was."

"Which castle? You _were_ part of the Organization, weren't you?"

"..."

"But you had to have been somewhere before that, right? Where are you from, Xion?"

"Nowhere," she said shortly. "I'm from nowhere. Come _on_, Sora. Let's get moving." She seemed startled when he caught her hand.

He smiled at her. "Everyone comes from somewhere, Xion. I bet you came from the seaside, just like me. Otherwise the ocean wouldn't sound like home."

"..."

"Come on," he said playfully. "Let's get going." He started tugging her toward the nearest path, and was pleased when she didn't pull away from his grasp on her hand.

The town was eerily silent and deserted. Twilight Town had been, too, but this was worse - this was supposed to be Sora's home. He knew the names or at least the faces of everyone who should be in the homes and shops they passed, but there was no one, nothing, not even any animals.

"That's the pet shop," Sora said softly. "Mom said, back before all the Heartless stuff started, that maybe I could get a dog soon...there was this white puppy with a black nose that I had my eye on..." He gave a helpless little chuckle. "Guess things never really worked out."

"Mm."

"And that store over there, me and Riku and Kairi used to stop there sometimes on our way home from school and buy peppermint sticks. And that's the ice cream shop..." He grinned. "Wanna go see if we can get any ice cream?"

"Is there anyone even in there?" Xion said dubiously.

"Well, even if there's not a _person_ there, there might still be ice cream, you know?"

There was. Fourteen different flavors, sitting quietly in their frozen tubs. "Uh...hello?" Sora called uncertainly. There was no answer - the shop was completely empty. "I guess I'll...check and see if there's anyone in the back."

The back of the shop was empty, too, and by the time he returned to the counter, Xion had already helped herself.

"Hey," Sora laughed, "you didn't wait for me?"

"This world isn't real - we're inside your heart," she pointed out. "There's no one to buy the ice cream from."

"Yeah...but still..." Sora left some munny on the counter, just because it felt right. Then he picked up the scooper Xion had used and scooped some ice cream into a little bowl. "Oooh, they have nuts and sprinkles and stuff, too."

"You put _nuts_ on _ice cream_?" Xion said, as if she'd never heard of such a thing before.

"Yeah! Or chocolate sauce or strawberry, or whatever you want. It's good." He was eagerly trying to cram every available topping on the bit of ice cream that fit in his bowl.

"I think I'll just stick to sea-salt, thanks..."

"Everyone likes sea-salt, huh," he commented, dipping a spoon into his dessert.

"It's our favorite."

"Our?"

"...Me and my best friends."

"Who are your-?"

"So do you live somewhere out there?" she asked hurriedly.

"Huh?"

"This is Destiny Islands, right? Didn't you have a...a home to go to every night?"

"Well...yeah." A sudden thought struck him. "You wanna see my house?"

She looked away. "Y...Yes."

He smiled. "Come on."

They walked close together once they left the ice cream shop, and it felt almost natural for Sora to reach out and hold Xion's hand. He wondered for a second if she'd be mad, but her hand squeezed his in what he thought might have been surprise, then she relaxed and they continued to amble along, their hands fitting very comfortably together.

"It's so beautiful here," Xion murmured.

"Yeah. I mean, of course the other worlds are really cool, too, but...there's no place like home, huh?"

"So many flowers...and the sound of the ocean seems...restful, sort of."

"It was a good place to live."

"Do you...plan to come back?"

"Come back?"

"To Destiny Islands. After all this is over."

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason..."

"...Xion?"

"Yes?" she said, sounding a little nervous.

"When you said you came from nowhere - um, did you mean you- Uh..." He gulped. "Do you wanna come live here, after we fix everything with Xehanort and all that?"

"Live...here? With you?"

"I mean- You have nowhere else to go, right? You can definitely come live here if you want, Xion!"

"I... Thank you, Sora. It's nice of you to offer."

"I'm not just being polite, you know!"

"I know. I'll...think about it. Okay, Sora?"

He smiled a little and squeezed her hand. "Okay."

When they got to his house, Sora paused in the driveway, a little unsettled at how silent and still everything was. Xion, however, looked fascinated, going up to look at the flowering bushes by the front porch and the ceramic dog sitting next to the door. "It's cute."

"Um, thanks." Sora tried the door, which was unlocked as usual. "So, you...wanna come in?"

"Yes."

They stepped inside cautiously, and found it to be quiet and unoccupied. Sora took out a couple of aluminum cans and brought them to the living room, where Xion was staring around at the furniture and walls. "You want a soda?"

"A...? Um, sure." It became apparent that she hadn't had much experience with soda when she took a cautious sip and then burst into a coughing fit.

"Xion! You okay?"

"Yes, I- _What_ is this?"

"Soda. You've never had it before?"

"Of course I-! I... Is it - supposed to taste this way?"

"All fizzy and bubbly, yeah." Sora took another gulp from his own can. "Sorry. If I'd've known you'd never had it before, I would have warned you."

"It's good..." she said, though she sounded uncertain.

"Here, I'll show you my room."

It belatedly occurred to Sora, as Xion was moving around examining everything closely, that maybe it was a little weird to have a girl going through his room. "Hey, um, I'll get those, uh, out of your way..." Red-faced, he picked a pair of boxers off the floor near Xion's feet and hurriedly tossed them into the laundry basket. Then he registered all the other dirty clothes and quickly worked to get them all off the floor, too.

"Riku..."

"Huh?!" Sora exclaimed.

Xion was now holding a framed photograph. "This is...you with your best friends?"

"Yeah, that's me and Riku and Kairi- Hey, do you know Riku?"

"...We've met."

"Really?!"

She set the picture frame back down. "He cares about you a lot," she mumbled.

"We've been best friends since we were little kids. He's done a lot for me," Sora said, smiling at the photograph.

"Sora...we should get back to looking for that giant Heartless."

"Huh? Oh, okay." They left the house again and started heading farther inland. "Man, I hope we don't have to wander around the entire island looking for it..."

"I know what you mean. Some of my missions were like that."

"Your missions...in Organization XIII?"

She seemed tense.

"It's okay, Xion," he assured her. "I know now that Organization XIII wasn't totally evil. Roxas was in it, you know, and we're friends. You don't have to worry about me holding it against you or anything."

She sighed. "Fine. I _was_ in the Organization."

"I knew it! Hey, did you know Roxas?"

She was quiet for a while, then said, "We talked sometimes."

"I bet it was rough," Sora said sympathetically. "All that time, thinking you guys had no hearts...it must have been so confusing when you got hurt and couldn't understand why you were hurting."

"Don't act like you know anything about it," she said sullenly.

"But- I mean, Roxas kind of downloaded it all into my brain, I _felt_ what you guys felt, even if it was just for a minute. It was awful."

"Sorry."

"No, that's not what I- I just...I wanna help you guys, Xion."

"I know," she said quietly. "That's why you're helping us hunt down the Heartless here. Thank you."

"But it's not just that."

"What?"

He finally came right out and said it. "Let's be friends, Xion."

She paused, staring at him.

He smiled. "Will you let me be your friend?"

"...All right," she finally whispered.

There was a sudden roar. The Keyblades instantly appeared in their hands as an immense shadowy figure rose up above the trees.

"It's in the forest!" Sora shouted. "Come on, Xion!" They both ran to engage their enemy in battle.

Sora immediately went for the monster's feet, which was the closest part of it he could reach. As he bashed away, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xion was casting spells. When he got hit with a dark ball of energy, a green glow almost immediately surrounded him. For a second, he wondered why he didn't feel better, but then realized a few minutes later that it was a Cura spell, which drew out its healing effects over time, rather than pumping up his HP in one shot the way a Cure spell would have. "Thanks, Xion!" he called out.

"Aim for its hands the next time it reaches down!" she called back.

They made a good team. Just like with Roxas and Ven, Sora got the strangest sense that he and Xion were somehow connected, that they could sense things in each other without having to say anything. There were too many times when he'd block a shot and Xion would be ready to strike as soon as the Heartless reeled; or when she'd cast a Blizzard spell just as he was swinging his Keyblade, so that the physical attack on the frozen area dealt even more damage than it would have otherwise. "We should do this more often!" he called over the noise of battle.

"What, risk our lives trying to save the worlds?" she yelled back.

"No, I mean - do things together like this! It's _cool_!"

"Let's try not to chat in the middle of a battle!"

Finally, they had the Heartless on the ropes. Its HP was very low, and it had resorted to desperation attacks. Sora was spinning his Keyblade madly, blocking the series of strikes in quick succession. Xion, wreathed in lightning, flung herself at the Heartless and shaved off a large amount of its remaining HP. Sora was raising his weapon for the death strike when the monster bellowed and swept out a hand, striking Xion and sending her flying.

"Xion!" Sora shouted. The lapse in concentration made him stumble, and he had to defend himself again before he got another chance to strike. He briefly considered rushing to the fallen girl's side, but it made more sense to finish off the monster quickly and then tend to her when things got calm. "Haaaahhhh!" He laid down a combo, grinned wildly when the Heartless finally burst into smoke and prizes, then ran to his fallen companion's side. "Xion! Xion!"

She lay still on the ground, looking small and fragile. "Xion!" Sora dropped to his knees beside her and lifted her in his arms, gazing at her in distress. "Xion, I used up all my healing Items, I-"

He wasn't sure what came over him then. He wasn't really thinking, he simply leaned his head down until he could feel her face against his, sense her breath whispering past his cheek. He didn't even have to look for her lips; his own met them so suddenly that it was as if he'd already known where they were by instinct.

Her hood dropped back as he kissed her. He didn't notice at first, because his eyes were closed and his mouth full of the taste of her, his mind giddy when he realized she was kissing him back. Then he opened his eyes again and drew away, just a little, having a crazy half-expectation that he'd find himself looking into his own face.

His mouth dropped open in shock. She didn't have his own face, but he still recognized her. He'd seen her a hundred times before.

"K- Kairi?!" But, no, she had black hair, not red... Other than that, they looked exactly the same!

"X-Xion," she gasped, her eyes full of pain. "I'm Xion."

He stared at her for a minute. Then he smiled. "Of course you're me- I mean, of course you're Xion." He leaned to kiss her again, then stopped. "Sorry, um... I should have asked permission first."

"It's okay," she said, and closed the small gap between them so that they were kissing again.

After a while, they both finally sat up, smiling sheepishly at each other. "Sorry... Are you okay, by the way? I don't have anything to heal you with..."

"I'm fine. I just had the wind knocked out of me, but...um, I'm better now." Her hand moved hesitantly toward his, and he grasped it.

"So, like, are you Kairi's long-lost sister or something?"

She blushed a little. "I...I'm just..." Her face suddenly darkened, and she reached to pull her hood back up again.

"Wait, Xion," he pleaded, "please don't. You don't have to hide from me."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," she said in a low voice.

"Yeah...I know there's a ton of stuff that's been going on that doesn't make sense. But it's okay, Xion! It doesn't matter who you are, I still..." He couldn't bring himself to say _'I love you,'_ and ended up with a silly smile instead.

She looked torn. "I...I'm..." She took a deep breath. "I'm a - a replica, Sora."

"Really? Like Riku's replica?"

She winced. "Y-Yeah...sort of..."

"Whoooaaa, so _Kairi_ has a replica, too?! I wonder if I have a replica."

Now she was grimacing. "Sora, please stop."

"Okay. Sorry, Xion. But you know, it doesn't matter who or what you are - you've got a heart. That makes you just as human as I am!"

"As you are..." she murmured, almost despairingly.

He smiled and got to his feet, holding out both hands to help her up. "Come on, Xion. Let's go find the way out of here."

They talked some more as they went, and Xion seemed to relax more as they moved away from the subject of her identity and origins. Sora had even gotten her to smile, and to laugh a few times, and almost to _chatter_ before they reached the door. He kind of wished he could stay here in the fake Destiny Islands longer, but this mission of his still wasn't over yet.

He took a deep breath. "Well...here we are."

She'd gone quiet again. "Yeah."

"...I know you probably can't come through this door, but..." He took her hands. "I'll see you again, Xion. I promise."

"Some promises are really hard to keep," she said softly.

"I _always_ keep my promises, Xion. You'll escape, okay? I won't let you or Roxas or Ven or Vanitas get trapped in here forever."

She squeezed his hands. "Th-Then we'll be waiting for you, Sora."

He hesitated, then leaned in to kiss her again. She kissed back hungrily, her hands going to grip his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her in a hug.

They finally parted, smiling sadly at each other. "I love you," she whispered. Then, so softly that he wasn't sure he heard it right, "Your heart is my heart."

"I'll come find you," he said gently. They kissed one last time.

Then the door unlatched and started to open slowly. They watched until it had swung as wide as it would go, a stained glass path revealed on the other side, stretching out into darkness. Keeping hold of Xion's hand, Sora tried to step out onto the path.

As they'd both expected, her fingers halted at the threshold, unable to move past it. With a sorrowful look, Sora pressed his lips to her hand. "I want to stay..."

"You won't do anyone any good if you never wake up again."

He smiled heavily at her. "Yeah." At last they parted, their eyes fixed on each other as he backed away through the door. She stood perfectly still as she watched. "Wait for me, Xion."

She smiled.

And the door closed again, cutting her off from his sight.

_'Not forever, though,'_ Sora thought. _'I'll find a way to get her back.'_ He turned around and set off resolutely down the path.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Come on, it's Disney; they'll eventually live Happily Ever After. XD

Aaaaand I will probably never do Sora/Xion romance again, because this was _so hard_ to write. *sweatdrop* I don't have anything against the pairing, it's just a really difficult one for me to portray, especially as romance - this is, like, the fourth plot bunny I came up with, since the others didn't work out for one reason or another. Trying to change Xion's characterization too much made me dissatisfied with the quality of the work, and she and Sora both kept getting distracted by platonic love if I let any other characters onscreen. *sweatdrop*

I did want to try SoXi at least once, though. :) Partially because my muse is apparently determined to crank out at least one fic for every KH pairing ever, and partially for Guggi's sake, since Sora/Xion is her OTP and I've been wanting to make something for her for a while. ^^ Her MMD artwork is lovely, and I've been following it for a few years now. I hope this story was to your liking, dear! I tried hard to adapt into my own style the sort of 'atmosphere' I sense this pairing has in your work. :hug:

Lol, I think this might be the first time ever that I've written game-Xion without totally failing (as opposed to manga-Xion, which is the characterization I usually write). XD


End file.
